Love Hina: Memories
by ReidXIII
Summary: The new guest is a mystery, an enigma so great that it puzzles all of the residents of Hinata House. What is he is the question on everyone's lips that remains unspoken. Please Read and Review
1. Memories

Disclaimer – I don't own any of the Love Hina characters, they belong to Ken Akamatsu, however, my character is of my own creation though. I also don't own any of the Linkin Park songs in this. This story takes place 1 year after the manga ends and after the first few paragraphs; it will switch from 3rd person narrative to 1st person P.O.V. Well let's get this shindig started kupos.  
  
/ This is a thought/  
  
\/*\/*\/*\/ This is a dream or memory\/*\/*\/*\/  
  
Chapter 1 – Memories  
  
The stranger pushed onwards up the steps leading to the front of Hinata House, all the while the rain beating down his tattered body. It fell, intertwining with the steady rain of crimson that flowed freely from his body. His hair was dark brown, blood flowing from it down his face between two eyes with jet-black pupils, down the side of his nose and past the grimace that his mouth was set in. He looked young, possibly sixteen or seventeen at most. He was carrying a duffle bag on his right, trying to brace it with his left hand as he limped up the long granite stairway.  
  
After what seemed and felt like an eternity to him, he finally reached the top of the stairway, a grim smile appearing slowly on his face. The place he had been trying to reach for so long was so close now that it looked like he could almost reach out and take hold of it. He lifted his left arm out towards it as he took limped another step forward towards the front door. "Hin...a...ta..." He said before he lost consciousness and hit the ground with a loud thud.  
  
"...And I was like, 'Mom! I not going to settle down until I'm outta Tokyo U and I want to!' Sometimes she just doesn't get it." Said a darkly tanned girl to her friend as they emerged from the front of Hinata House, opening an umbrella above their heads.  
  
"So what should we go-" Her friend, also a girl but lighter than her, said before a gasp escaped her lips as she saw the stranger lying on the path. Their eyes widened immediately as soon as they saw him, lying there in a pool of his own blood that slowly flowed down the steps behind him.  
  
"Is...is he d...d...dead?" Asked the darkly tanned girl, shock and fear of the mysterious stranger in front of them stopping her from walking any farther.  
  
"I...I d...don't know. Quick...get Se...Sempai." Said the lighter girl as she took a small step forward. She just stood there for a moment until she had enough courage to walk all the way over to him and check on him. His pulse was extremely slow but steadily rhythmic in his veins and shallow breath was escaping his lungs every few moments. The winter rain kept falling, washing his blood away from the wounds that it continually flowed from.  
  
***  
  
I opened my eyes slowly, pain flaring up from every square inch of my body. I grunted and then opened my eyes the rest of the way, a wooden ceiling above me.  
  
"Mitsumi, get the others! He's awake!" Shouted a feminine voice from somewhere beside me. I turned my head as far as I could, pain tearing at my neck from inside my worn and wounded body. I saw the speaker, a girl of about sixteen in glasses, a pair of jeans, and a white blouse sitting on a mat about three feet away from me. She was about six inches shorter than me and had a light tan that perfectly complemented her long dark brown hair that fell to about her waist.  
  
"Hello there. I'm Ema." She said with a smile that radiated of warmth and kindness, so welcoming and friendly that it put me at ease immediately.  
  
I tried to move my left arm but the pain flared even more than it had when I had first awoke, bringing a grimace to my face as I laid back down on what felt like a futon mat. I just turned my head back to where she was and smiled weakly, hardly any strength left in me.  
  
The sound of a door opening behind me caught my attention but I could not see who it was because of the wounds and bandages all over my broken body. Luckily, the people who had entered walked to the side of the futon I was on and then kneeled down over me. There were eight women of various ages and one man that looked about twenty-five or thirty.  
  
"Thanks for watching him, Ema." The man said as he adjusted the glasses that he was wearing around his face. He turned his attention back down to me after a moment and then scratched his head with his left hand. "Well, welcome to Hinata House I guess." He said with a chuckle.  
  
"Keitaro! You're joking at a time like this?! Sometimes I really wonder," Said the woman on his left side, a beautiful woman about the same age as he was. She had sandy brown hair that fell to about the middle of her back, "Well since it seems my husband doesn't know what to say right now, I'll start the introductions. I'm Naru Urashima and the idiot next to me is my husband Keitaro."  
  
The next girl to introduce herself was sitting on the Keitaro's right about two people down. She was very tan, like an islander, and despite her woman- like figure there was a very youthful appearance and energy coming from her. There was something that just shouted life about her. "I'm Su! This is Keitaro's room you're in." She said with a wide smile on her face.  
  
The introductions continued down the row of girls until I had met all eight of them besides Ema. I tried to sit up again but the pain kept forcing me back down so I just decided to stay where I was for now.  
  
"My name is..." I said, my voice trailing off as I realized one of the most frightening things that I learned that day. I did not have any knowledge whatsoever of who I was or how I had gotten here and why I was in bandages. I had no knowledge or memories at all. "My name is..." It was I could say.  
  
They all looked down at me with either curiosity, pity, or in the case of Kanako and Motoko, distrust. Keitaro was the first one to speak after a few moments of awkward silence in the room. "Well I guess that you don't know who you are. Not surprising that you have amnesia considering the severity of these wounds." He said. "It looks like you'll be staying here for a while so is there anything that you need?"  
  
"...A pair of crutches and some clothes, please." I said, not really open because right now I was afraid and the distrust that Kanako and Motoko were showing me was reciprocated from me. The only one in there that I felt I could trust was Ema.  
  
After the rest of the residents of Hinata House had left, Ema walked over to the futon and set down, a duffle bag beside her. She was still smiling but now it seemed like she had become nervous, possibly because of the duffle bag I thought. "We found it beside you so we think that it's yours." She said, pushing the bag towards me so that it was within my reach. "...I'm sorry that you can't remember anything."  
  
I was comforted by her concern and care; it was not something I had been expecting from anyone here because I was a stranger, even to myself. "It's alright. Whatever happened to me, I guess that I'm actually rather glad that I can't remember how I got like this." I replied with a smile that quickly turned into a grimace as I forced my body to sit up. The pain was like being impaled with thousands of knives covered in salt, burning and tearing at my flesh from within.  
  
I reached over and unzipped the duffle back then started looking through it for any information that could tell me who I was. Inside were a few pairs of pants, mostly baggy blue jeans, as well as a few shirts of various colors. Along with them was a CD player with two CDs beside it and one inside it, none of them labeled. Out of all of these dull items, two items that I found at the bottom of the bag caught my attention and kept me fixated on them, a short-sword about three feet long and a dagger about a foot and a half long. Both were set in black sheathes and from the markings and design on the outside looked to be of the same make and design.  
  
I picked up the two weapons one at a time, bracing myself with my left hand to keep from falling back down. The weapons felt light and did not seem to cause me any discomfort holding them, a good sign to me. After examining them, I set them back inside the back then zipped it back up, turning my attention back to Ema.  
  
Her eyes had widened from the surprise of seeing the two blades but she was good at hiding it and quickly came up with something to say, "Does...Does any of it help out?" She asked.  
  
"Not the least. It doesn't look like there is anything in there that will help me out with my memories." I said as I sat up fully, the blanket covering me falling off my chest and revealing a web of a myriad of blood stained bandages. The pain struck again, flaring up like a fire within my body and causing me to grunt loudly at the pain.  
  
"You shouldn't be moving around yet because your body hasn't had enough time to begin healing properly. Get some rest and give your wounds time to heal, I'll be back later to check on you." She said as she gently pushed me back down on the futon and pulled the blanket back over my body then left. She had seemed to have gotten even more nervous than before in those last moments before she left.  
  
/Was it something I said?/ I asked myself as I closed my eyes and slowly drifted back into the land of dreams.  
  
\/*\/*\/*\/  
  
"I've got to run away from them, they don't care or they wouldn't have dragged me away from home." I said to myself softly as I packed my duffle back quickly then slung it over my shoulder. The door stood slightly ajar so I peeked out and made sure that they were still in the front room. I didn't recognize the people I was trying to escape from but my dream self seemed to know them all to well. As soon as it was clear they didn't suspect anything, I pushed open the window silently and climbed out onto the balcony outside.  
  
I worked my way methodically over to the low rooftop that I could jump down and escape from. My feet reached solid ground a moment later as I snuck over to the gate that led to my freedom. Something out front of this house I was trying to escape from caught my attention so I decided to check out what it was.  
  
A car had pulled into the driveway and two well-built men emerged from it, dressed in dark clothing. They walked up to the front door, both reaching into their right pant pockets. The one in front knocked and a woman answered, dressed in a pair of sweats because of the cold winter weather. "Can I help you, gentlemen?" She asked.  
  
"Yes. Are you Rei Crowe?" Asked the one who had knocked after he took a step forward towards her.  
  
"Why yes I am." She replied with detachment in her voice. "What is it you need?"  
  
The man closest to her pulled a silenced pistol from his right pocket and held it to her chest with a smile. "Call your husband for us and then turn around." He answered. She did as he told her to then he walked up and pressed the gun to her back. The man who I assumed to be her husband came up to the door and greeted the men, much like his wife had done.  
  
"Yes Rei? What is it?" He asked his wife who looked like she was nearly at the point of tears with fear. The other man stepped forward and pulled a similar silenced pistol from his pocket and pressed it to the head of the woman's husband.  
  
"You can die for us. Mr. Sagara sends his regards." He said with a smile before pulling the trigger. The man fell over dead, his wife following him a moment later after being executed in the same manner. The two murders dragged their bodies back into the house and then walked back outside a few moments afterwards.  
  
"Find their son and finish up the job. You know where I'll be waiting." Said the one who had shot the woman to his partner. All I could do was stare in horror at the sight of what they had just done, numbness overtaking my body.  
  
\/*\/*\/*\/  
  
"Wake up! Come on kid, don't you die on me!" Shouted Keitaro as he pushed in my chest with amazing force. "Damnit kid! Wake up!"  
  
I opened my eyes again slowly, numbness in every part of my body and any strength I had before gone. The residents of Hinata House were all kneeling over me, eyes wide with fear.  
  
"Whahappened..." I slurred, my words weak and jumbled together. It felt like my body weighed tons and I felt so weak that I couldn't even lift up my own arm. It was not a feeling I liked at all.  
  
"Ema came in to check on you and you weren't breathing so we checked your pulse." The swordswoman, Motoko I remember her being called, answered. "You were flat-lining for more than three minutes. What happened?" I was afraid of telling them about what I had just seen in the dream that looked and felt so real but I figured I could trust them so I decided to.  
  
"I had a dream...A dream that might have been more than just a regular dream..." I said, fear in me as it returned to my thoughts. /What if that wasn't just a dream? What if it was something more?/ 


	2. Unknown

Disclaimer- Yet again I don't own Love Hina or any of the characters that hail from it. However, Crowe is of my creation. Also in response to your question Theme4Two, this is not tied to Bugsy's story. I did not know that the title was already in use until you said something.  
  
/ This is a thought/  
  
***Change of Point of View from 1st to 3rd and vice-versa***  
  
Chapter 2 – The Unknown  
  
The questions lasted for the next hour as the residents of Hinata House asked about every detail of my dream; the looks of worry on their faces turning to looks of fear of what I might be. I could tell they were afraid, afraid of what the dream made me, afraid of the young man who was probably an orphan lying in front of them. Me.  
  
It was sickening having to relive the dream because they would not let it even begin to fade from my mind although I doubted I would ever be able to forget something so terrible as that. They kept pushing deeper and deeper about their theories of the dream but I deep inside I knew what it was, one of the memories I had forgotten.  
  
After I finished retelling the dream for the third time, Keitaro stood up and cleared his throat to ask for silence in the room. "Ladies, I know that you still have questions but I need to speak to him for one moment so could you all wait outside for a few?" He asked, his face a mask of mixed and hidden emotions and thoughts.  
  
They walked out one by one, Ema at the end of the line after she took one last lingering look at my broken body, tears glistening in her eyes. After she closed the door, I could hear hushed voices begin talking outside but I could not understand what they were saying.  
  
/Great, now everyone here probably thinks I'm crazy and Ema's most likely frightened of me. Stupid dream, stupid amnesia, stupid life! / I thought as Keitaro sat back down alongside my mat.  
  
He took his glasses from his nose and cleaned them with a quick rub of his shirt and then put them back on before saying anything. "I believe that this is a memory like you said earlier, kid. I've been shot enough by Su that I'd recognize a gunshot wound from a mile away and you've definitely been shot, more than a dozen times as a matter of fact." He said, not smiling but not giving the pity I didn't want or need then. "It's amazing that you're still alive with all the damage you've suffered so I just wonder if we're related." He was smiling, laughing inwardly at a joke that only he understood then.  
  
"Once my body's healed, I've got to leave." I said as I sat up, ignoring the burning pain in my body that protested against me ever moving again. "I can't put my burden on you or anyone else here, it's just not right."  
  
"I'm sorry kid but we can't let you go if there is someone out there that wants you dead for whatever reason they have." Keitaro replied as he stood back up and walked to the door. "It's the basic rule of Hinata House; when you're here, you are one of us no matter what."  
  
He pulled open the door as though he were about to leave only to have Naru fall forward and knock him straight to the ground underneath her. His face was buried in her chest and his arms were flailing about ridiculously as he fought for air but I could tell that she was not happy or even regretful of what she had accidentally done. She was definitely angry with him for some reason I would not figure out until a moment later.  
  
"Damn perv!!" She shouted as she got off of him and he stood up, following up by sending him flying with a punch that could have killed a bear in one hit. The speed at which he left the ground was incredible yet so was the repercussions that it brought with it. As he flew past my futon, his foot caught hold of the edge of it and whipped it out of the room with him, sending me spiraling to the hot spring far below my room.  
  
"CROWE!" Ema cried as she rushed to the outer balcony in time to see me begin falling towards the waters so far below.  
  
It felt like I was falling for an eternity, everything seemed to slow down as the spring and the rocks surrounding it rushed up to meet my tattered body. As I fell, thoughts ran through my mind like the flames of a wildfire, the old saying of life flashing before one's eyes proving itself true. Every memory I had since I had awakened in that room, including the dream, flooded my mind, replaying continually. There was only one that I really care about or treasured and that was from when I had first opened my eyes and saw Ema for the first time.  
  
Despite being powerless to arrest my fall or even protect myself from the death that awaited me when I hit, a deep emotion arose within me, a desire to live even if just for her. "Zero breed activate!" My voice shouted, no longer under the control of my consciousness but instead by my sub consciousness. It was at that instant that I realized I was definitely not normal by any definition of the word.  
  
Everything stopped moving; my body stopped its rapid descent, the wind stopped blowing, the water stopped rippling and even Ema stopped. Everything stopped completely. My vision now saw everything in shades of gray, like I had become colorblind when the world stopped moving. /What in the hell is going on?! /  
  
I seemed to be suspended there in that position, just barely floating above the water that had threatened my life just moments ago, until I began drifting. My body righted itself on its own somehow so that my feet now faced the water instead of my back. It was like I was standing on air now, hovering about two feet above the surface of the water. My body slowly moved towards the rocks so that it was as though I was now hovering about a foot above one of the rocks that lined the edge of the spring. "Deactivate now." My voice said softly, still not under my control.  
  
The world returned to normal and I dropped to the ground lightly on the toes of my feet, a look of awe and shock appearing on my face as I stared down at myself. I lifted my gaze shakily to Ema and we just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, her eyes seeming to pierce my very soul as we just watched each other with amazement.  
  
Her face was the last thing that I saw before I blacked out and fell backwards, hitting the water of the spring behind me with a tremendously loud thud.  
  
***  
  
"Damnit! I knew I shouldn't have punched that pervert with the kid so close by!" Naru said, berating herself after she took a sip of the tea sitting in front of her while she sat on the couch in the living room of Hinata House.  
  
"There is no way that you could've known that he would have been taken out by the force of your punch as well. Don't beat yourself up about it." Shinobu replied, also drinking from a cup of tea. "By the way, did you hear what Ema said happened as he was falling down to the spring? She said that he shouted something like 'Zero breed activate' and the next second he was safe again. The fall didn't even hurt him."  
  
"But that's just impossible! Nothing makes sense anymore and it hasn't since he arrived!" Naru said before becoming really quiet when Ema walked into the room, a look of relief on her face.  
  
"He's stable, sleeping, and his wounds are finally starting to heal so I think that he's going to be alright." Ema said with a smile as her pet chameleon, Leon, climbed off of the small tree that he was on and onto her shoulder. "I don't understand what happened but whatever did, I'm glad that it did. Crowe's a good person so it just would not be right if anything happened to him and he got even worse than he is already."  
  
"Why do you call him Crowe, huh Ema?" Naru asked as Ema took a seat next to her on the couch.  
  
"His dream. He said that the woman's name was Rei Crowe and if she is...was his mother then that makes his name something Crowe, too." Ema replied, the smile fading from her light skinned complexion. It was obvious that she did not want to think about or talk about the fact that his parents might have been dead. "I pray that his dream was him remembering something but I also pray that he did not remember it the way it happened because he shouldn't have to be put through such misery. If his memory is fine, then you all know what it means for him."  
  
They talked for the next few hours as a nice winter rain fell outside, a severe contrast to the outright deluge that had occurred four days earlier when he had arrived at Hinata. The rain was calming, it seemed to wash away the impurities of the world and leave it far better than it had been.  
  
"Guys! You gotta come check this out now!" Su shouted from upstairs in the Landlord's room, the room that they had put him in since Keitaro now slept in the same room as Naru. They rushed upstairs at a nearly break-neck pace, Ema leading them.  
  
"What happened, Su?" Naru asked when they arrived.  
  
"I was changin' his bandages like Motoko told me to but when I started to unwrap the ones he had on, I found him like this. Look at him guys!" She exclaimed incredulously, gesturing madly at his sleeping form. The expressions of worry on their visages quickly turned to expressions of complete bewilderment as they gazed down upon his body. All of his wounds had healed completely, leaving now evidence that he had even ever been hurt.  
  
They just stood, watching him silently as he slept soundly on a futon mat.  
  
"What is he?" Ema asked, finally pinning down her thoughts with words. 


End file.
